First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Prov. 29:18
18Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
- Ps. 119:18
18Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
- Ps. 25:15
15Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
- Ezek. 12:21-28
21¶ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
22Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
23Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.
24For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.
25For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.
26¶ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
27Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.
28Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.
- Hab. 2:1-3
1I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
- Isa. 29:11-14
11And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
13¶ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
- Mark 6:34
34And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
- Mark 7:1
1Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
- Mark 8:11, 12, 17 Why (to 3rd ,), 18, 22-25
11And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.
12And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
Why reason ye,
... 18Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
22¶ And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
23And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught.
24And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
25After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
- I Cor. 15:45-50
45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
- II Cor. 3:17, 18
17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
- II Cor. 4:1-6
1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 116:11-12
- SH 111:11
The Principle of divine metaphysics 12is God; the practice of divine metaphysics is the utiliza-tion of the power of Truth over error; its rules demon-strate its Science. Divine metaphysics reverses perverted 15and physical hypotheses as to Deity, even as the ex-planation of optics rejects the incidental or inverted image and shows what this inverted image is meant to 18represent.
- SH 203:13
- SH 305:5
A picture in the camera or a face reflected in the mirror 6is not the original, though resembling it. Man, in the Human reflectionlikeness of his Maker, reflects the central light of being, the invisible God. As there is no cor -9poreality in the mirrored form, which is but a reflection, so man, like all things real, reflects God, his divine Prin-ciple, not in a mortal body.
- SH 200:16-24
The great truth in the Science of being, that the real man was, is, and ever shall be perfect, is incontrovertible; 18for if man is the image, reflection, of God, he is neither inverted nor subverted, but upright and Godlike.
The suppositional antipode of divine infinite Spirit 21 is the so-called human soul or spirit, in other words the five senses, — the flesh that warreth against Spirit. These so-called material senses must yield to the infinite 24Spirit, named God.
- SH 259:15
If man was once perfect but has now lost his perfection, then mortals have never beheld in man the reflex image The divine image not lostof God. The lost image is no image. The 18true likeness cannot be lost in divine reflection. Understanding this, Jesus said: “Be ye there -fore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is 21perfect.”
- SH 399:28-29 (np)
All that is real is included in this immortal Mind.
Our Master asked: “How can one enter into a strong 30Confirmation in a parableman’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called 400 400:1mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear 3of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thor-oughly cured. Mortal mind is “the strong man,” which must be held in subjection before its influence upon health 6and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we can despoil “the strong man” of his goods, — namely, of sin and disease.
9 Mortals obtain the harmony of health, only as they forsake discord, acknowledge the supremacy of divine Eradicate error from thoughtMind, and abandon their material beliefs. 12Eradicate the image of disease from the per-turbed thought before it has taken tangible shape in conscious thought, alias the body, and you pre-15vent the development of disease. This task becomes easy, if you understand that every disease is an error, and has no character nor type, except what mortal mind assigns to 18it. By lifting thought above error, or disease, and con-tending persistently for truth, you destroy error.
When we remove disease by addressing the disturbed 21mind, giving no heed to the body, we prove that thought Mortal mind controlledalone creates the suffering. Mortal mind rules all that is mortal. We see in the body 24the images of this mind, even as in optics we see painted on the retina the image which becomes visible to the senses. The action of so-called mortal mind must be 27destroyed by the divine Mind to bring out the harmony of being. Without divine control there is discord, mani-fest as sin, sickness, and death.
- SH 479:8-15, 21-7
Matter is neither self-existent nor a product of Spirit. 9An image of mortal thought, reflected on the retina, is Matter’s supposed selfhoodall that the eye beholds. Matter cannot see, feel, hear, taste, nor smell. It is not self-12cognizant, — cannot feel itself, see itself, nor understand itself. Take away so-called mortal mind, which constitutes matter’s supposed selfhood, and matter 15can take no cognizance of matter.
In the vast forever, in the Science and truth of being, the only facts are Spirit and its innumerable creations. Darkness and chaos 24are the imaginary opposites of light, understanding, and eternal harmony, and they are the elements of nothingness.
27 We admit that black is not a color, because it reflects no light. So evil should be denied identity or power, Spiritual reflectionbecause it has none of the divine hues. Paul 30says: “For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being under-stood by the things that are made.” (Romans i. 20.) 480 480:1When the substance of Spirit appears in Christian Sci-ence, the nothingness of matter is recognized. Where 3the spirit of God is, and there is no place where God is not, evil becomes nothing, — the opposite of the some-thing of Spirit. If there is no spiritual reflection, then 6there remains only the darkness of vacuity and not a trace of heavenly tints.
- SH 215:11-21
Spiritual vision is not subordinate to geometric alti-12tudes. Whatever is governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life.
15 We are sometimes led to believe that darkness is as real as light; but Science affirms darkness to be only a mortal Light and darknesssense of the absence of light, at the coming of 18which darkness loses the appearance of reality. So sin and sorrow, disease and death, are the suppositional absence of Life, God, and flee as phantoms of error before 21truth and love.
- SH 504:23-31
The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into 24the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously, whereas a thousand years of human doctrines, hypotheses, and vague conjectures emit no such effulgence.
27 Did infinite Mind create matter, and call it light? Spirit is light, and the contradiction of Spirit is matter, Spirit versus darknessdarkness, and darkness obscures light. Mate-30rial sense is nothing but a supposition of the absence of Spirit.
- SH 250:12
- SH 267:19-25
When examined in the light of divine Science, mortals present more than is detected upon the surface, since 21Waymarks to eternal Truthinverted thoughts and erroneous beliefs must be counterfeits of Truth. Thought is bor -rowed from a higher source than matter, and 24by reversal, errors serve as waymarks to the one Mind, in which all error disappears in celestial Truth.
- SH 276:12-14
- SH 558:10-16
To mortal sense The new EvangelScience seems at first obscure, abstract, and 12dark; but a bright promise crowns its brow. When understood, it is Truth’s prism and praise. When you look it fairly in the face, you can heal by its means, 15and it has for you a light above the sun, for God “is the light thereof.”
